Computer databases are traditionally used for the storage, organization, and retrieval of large amounts similarly themed, structured information. For example, a contact database generally store information relating to one or more people's personal information (e.g., name, address, telephone number), whereas a collector's database (e.g., baseball cards, comic books, stamps) generally stores information such as the collectable items' names, descriptions, values, etc.
Social networks are generally Internet-based services that act as online gathering places. Users can associate (e.g., network) themselves with other users of the services to share information such as photos, blog posts, and personal status updates. Some social networks cater almost exclusively to providing users with tools for broadcasting personal updates on a frequent basis, for example, to notify their social networking peers about what is happening in their lives.